A photographer often carries a camera bag by means of a strap hung around his neck, to provide access to a variety of equipment such as a camera, lenses, filters, flash unit, film, etc. Such bags typically have a thickness of less than one foot to avoid excessive bulging from the side of the user, but have a length and width greater than the thickness. A common type of camera bag has a small cover at the top, so that equipment near the top of the bag may have to be removed to recover equipment near the bottom of the bag. Another type of bag is of the "attache case" type which has a large cover at the side to enable direct access to all equipment, and which permits all equipment to be securely held in place. However, such bags, or cases, usually must be removed from the user's shoulder and placed on a table, before opening the cover. It is possible to provide shoulder case designs with relatively cumbersome and complex mechanisms that will hold an attache case open while it is held on the shoulder of the user, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,814 by Hall shows such a case. However, the use of complex mechanisms can greatly detract from the usefulness of the case, because potential customers may not readily understand how to operate the mechanism, and because the additional complexity adds to cost and decreases reliability. An attache-type case for providing ready access to securely held equipment, which could be opened while securely held on the shoulder of a person, and which was of simple design and easy operation, would be of considerable benefit.
An important advantage of an attache-type instrument case, wherein a large cover provides wide area access to equipment in the case, is that it enables equipment of irregular shape to be securely held in place. One technique for securely holding such equipment is to provide a thick foam cushion sheet that fills the entire lower part of the case, and in which large irregular holes have been cut on a custom basis to closely fit particular pieces of equipment. This technique does not permit an individual to easily rearrange the placement of his equipment or add new equipment without recutting the sheet, and can be difficult and result in a sloppy appearance when the work is done by the individual user. A case with cushion surroundings for each piece of equipment, which could be easily changed in configuration to hold different pieces of equipment, all in a sturdy, cushioned and neat-appearing manner, would be of considerable value.